This document was also provided by Ellen Stoddart. David Allen copied the original document (NRO 404/289 ) from the Northumberland County Council, and Ellen Stoddart transcribed the document providing the present form.

Anthony Gregson's will left some issues which needed to be resolved. Henry Knight who was designated to receive Anthony's estate was a minor when Anthony died. The estate not only involved Lowlin, but also the Tone Hall some sixty miles distant. That second property was adjacent to lands which were were mined for minerals including coal and iron. While still a minor, Henry could not sell or lease the the lands at the distant Tone Hall estate. In order to achieve this right, the executors on behalf of Henry Knight petitioned Parliament for the right to sell or lease these properties. This was granted with Royal Assent on 4 AUG 1840.

Link: An Act of Parliament Enabling Anthony Gregson's Will

Last edited by drfalken on Sun Jan 15, 2017 3:12 pm; edited 2 times in total

The monetary amounts for Income from the 4 schedules to the Act can be added to show that the total annual income Henry Knight Gregson inherited under the Will of Anthony Gregson was around £3,500 in 1840.

To give an estimate of equivalent in 2012, annual rent for ‘Cottage in Bowsden’ has been taken as the comparator, being 4 guineas per year in 1840 and appox £450 per month in 2012. Applying that increase factor [1,200] to the 1840 annual income, indicates income in 2012 would be around £4,200,000.

The Act would have enabled the Trustees [Executors] to sign leases of sufficient length [& certainty] to justify the cost of developing the proposed coal mines. The estimated value in 1840 does not include revenue that would have flowed from these leases, or, if the land was sold & not leased, the profit from selling that land.

Hodgson's History of Northumberland re Tone and Cowden, explains that under the powers given under the Act of Parliament of 1840, the estates were sold in 1864 to a Mr J G Abbott for the sum of £30,000. Henry Gregson, seemingly, felt he needed a boost of capital.